As talk of gun control once again comes front and center, Palm Beach County Shooting Center Manager, Chuck Papp, explains the first steps to buying a gun in the Sunshine State.

"The first thing we ask you for is your valid Florida driver's license," he said.

"We're also going to call the state, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, we're going to do a background check."

It's part of short list of checks and balances that also includes filling out a federal form. It asks prospective gun owners a range of questions such as, "have they ever been convicted of a felony? Or adjudicated mentally defective?"

Papp was asked, "How do you know if a customer lies on the form about mental health?

"On this form, we don't," he replied.

In Palm Beach County, customers who don't have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, must wait an additional 5 days before they can leave buying a gun.

It's called a cooling off period. In Martin and St. Lucie County the wait is shorter, 3 days.

Once a customer is cleared to buy a gun they can "take home any legally owned semi-automatic pistol, revolver or rifle or shotgun," explains Papp.

In Florida, the same requirements are needed if you wanted to buy a typical handgun, a standard rifle or a shotgun.

"It's the law," said Papp.

A law now the target of so many questions boiling down to whether enough is being to keep the wrong weapons out of the wrong hands?

Papp was asked, "So all I need to give you is my license, fill out the form correctly, pass my background check and wait five days and I have my semi-automatic?"

"You got your rifle, yea," said Papp.

There is a big difference in buying a semi-automatic versus fully automatic rifle or machine gun. Fully automatic rifles are a lot tougher to get. They must be federally obtained, meaning you can't get one until the federal government gives you approval. Approval can take up to 7 months

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.